Chhattisgarh Congress chief blames 'internal sabotage' for defeat

December 08, 2013 23:36 IST

Upset over the defeat of several of Congress's sitting Members of Legislative Assembly in the Chhattisgarh assembly elections, state Congress chief Charandas Mahant blamed it on "internal sabotage" on Sunday evening.

But he added that the Congress accepted the mandate and congratulated the party's winning candidates.

"This is democracy and we consider it our bad luck that our big leaders, about whose victories we were sure, had to face defeats. It also indicates some internal sabotage. We will conduct our own analysis," he added.

He also claimed that BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi made no impact in the state.

About the talk of a sympathy wave in the aftermath of the Naxal attack in Bastar, in which several Congress leaders were killed, Mahant said, "We never thought of cashing in on the sacrifice of our leaders. We gave tickets to their family members as a mark of respect."

Mahant also said that notwithstanding the assembly results, the Congress would win the Lok Sabha polls next year.

Congress General Secretary and state-in-charge B K Hariprasad claimed that the result of Lok Sabha elections could not be forecast on the basis of the outcome in the assembly polls.